On a roll?

No, not a roll with butter and jam. ;) I've successfully completed my fourth straight day on-plan.

OK, I admit to not getting any exercise today. I slept in until noon and then had to make lunch and get ready for work. I was going to head home for my lunch break at 6:30 so I could sneak in a short walk before it got dark, but didn't manage to leave until 7.

Still, today's food choices couldn't have been much better. I'm allowed 25 Points and I ate 25 Points ... unless I head home and make myself a small after-work snack. Even then I'll be at about 27 Points.

For dinner, I tried something new. I had leftover butter beans in the fridge, so I made some whole wheat penne, then sauteed some garlic with the beans. I added a tomato (seeded and chopped) and some basil.

It was delicious — and filling. It's amazing how much better I feel when I'm eating good, healthy foods. When I'm eating crap, I eat a lot more and don't feel nearly as satisfied.

Anyway, here's the recipe. Sorry the picture turned out blurry.



Garlicky Beans with Pasta

2 oz. whole wheat penne

1/2 cup butter beans, with juice

3 cloves garlic (I love garlic)

1 tomato, seeded and diced

sprinkle fresh basil

1 Morningstar Farms Italian Sausage link

2 tsp RF Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

In same pan, heat beans and garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato and basil. Stir pasta back into the pot. (It should absorb the bean liquid pretty quickly.)

While beans are cooking, cook sausage link according to microwave directions. Cut up and add to pot.

Serve in bowl with cheese sprinkled on top.

Serves 1. 8 WW Points.

Great breakfast & a new blog

I know, I know .... I usually don't post until the end of the day. But since I had something to share, I figured, "Why not shake things up a little?" Blogging more than once today won't hurt me!

The Boyfriend called right before 9 this morning, so I was actually up early enough to make myself that French toast this morning. I'm psyched, because it turned out delicious.

Psyched? I haven't said that since about sixth-grade. Ah, let's not take that trip down memory lane.

Anyway, it couldn't have been simpler to make.

1/4 cup egg substitute

pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg & Splenda

1 Sandwich Thin

Spray a small skillet with cooking spray. Mix egg substitute, spices and Splenda. Dip bread into egg. Cook on each side until as brown as you like it.

Yum! And only 2 Points. (I added half an apple and a drizzle of SF syrup, making my total for breakfast 3 Points. Same number as a bowl of Special K w/ 1/2 cup milk, but a nice change!)

On to the blog. Thanks to Tonyne over at The Unlikely Success Story, I discovered a new blog this morning: T.J.'s Test Kitchen. T.J. has lost about 70 pounds on WW (which is where I'll be when I finally hit goal). Right now, she's doing a giveaway ... a great lunch bag filled with some of her favorite snacks.

And now I'm entered to win! :D (I never win this kind of thing, but it's always fun to try.)

Surprise

... And this time, it was a good surprise — two, actually.

First, the news you've all been waiting for: Results of today's WI. (Drumroll, please.) Down 1.2 pounds.

I was surprised, because when I hopped on the home scale, I thought I was pretty much the same as last Monday. Apparently, I'd forgotten what the home scale said.

I'll take the loss and be glad, because my Thursday and Friday weren't all that great.

The other surprise: The baked potato I had when I got home from work last night was very filling. First, I nuked a potato. While it was cooking, I rummaged around in the freezer. (I was inspired by Tonyne over at The Unlikely Success Story, who recently wrote a post about cleaning out her freezer.) Found a partial bag of sad frozen veggies and decided they'd be just the thing to make my potato a "Filling Food."

I cut up a mushroom and a little onion and nuked it with the frozen veggies, then topped the potato with them. I also added 1 T bacon bits, 2 T RF cheddar and 2 T RF sour cream.

It hit the spot — and was only 5 Points.

Online, on the phone and in the kitchen

As I said earlier, I spent most of the day on the phone or running errands. When I wasn't doing that, I was online.

I did, however, find time to make myself a healthy dinner (after

getting Subway for lunch).

Dinner was a turkey sandwich (2 oz. turkey, FF Miracle whip and honey mustard on a Sandwich Thin) and zucchini fries (a whole zucchini cut into spears, tossed with 2 tsp. honey mustard and 1 tsp. olive oil, then coated with 1/3 cup Fiber One crumbs and baked for about 18 minutes). I also steamed the last of the veggies from Sunday's salad, which had been marinating in oil and balsamic vinegar. (Not the lettuce, but the carrots, broccoli and snap peas.)

I shot a photo of the fries, which were inspired by Hungry Girl. I don't know if she has a recipe for something similar, because this

is one I made up myself — but it was definitely sparked by HG's love of Fiber One.

A couple of hours after dinner, I made a peppermint milkshake with my Magic Bullet. I love that thing. It was a Christmas gift from my roommate several years ago, and while I don't use it as often and the infomercial says, I do use it a lot. (Used it twice tonight — once to make the Fiber One crumbs and once for the shake. Mmm.)

The shake, which weighs in at 2 Points, was easy to make: just 1/2 cup Breyer's Free vanilla ice cream, 1/4 cup skim milk and half a candy cane. It might not be as thick and rich as a DQ peppermint Blizzard, but it also has a heck a lot fewer calories!

Don't ask why the photo is sideways. Apparently I have to change that in my photo editing program, not here in the blog.

Followed through

I just finished doing what I said I was going to do: No snack after work, and a walk first thing when I woke up. (It was late morning, since I didn't get up until 10:30 ... but it was still first thing!)

I guess you could say it's a step in the right direction.

When I got back from my walk (a little more than 2 miles in 32 minutes), I fixed a healthy — and delicious — lunch. I sliced a zucchini, tossed it with olive oil, garlic and sea salt, and then grilled it on George. I also made a ham sandwich: A Sandwich Thin with 2 oz. ham, a Laughing Cow light cheese wedge and a little Miracle Whip Free and honey mustard. It, too, got the George treatment. Yum! And I peeled and ate two clementines. Double yum! I love those things ... and it's even better when you buy a bag for less than $3.

Next up? I think I'm going to make some of Hungry Girl's Cheesy Butternut Squash Bake to have as an afternoon snack and with dinner.

It's amazing how easy it is to start feeling good again! Now, all I need to do is keep up the good work.

Successful experiment

I've had a busy, busy morning. Not only did I manage to get up early (thanks to a call from the Boyfriend) and eat a healthy breakfast, but also to take a 50-minute walk AND bake a loaf of chocolate-pumpkin bread.

I saw the recipe over at Carrots 'N' Cake this morning and knew I HAD to try it. But I didn't want to make it as it was written, because it had a lot of sugar in it. We all know "limit added sugar and alcohol" is one of Weight Watchers' 8 Good Health Guidelines, and since I'm trying to be good this week, I

didn't want to blow that on Day 1.

So I set out, using my knowledge of healthy cooking, to improve on the recipe. Here's my version:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup Splenda
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 can (7.5 ounces) pumpkin
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325*F. Spray loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray (butter flavor would be nice, but I'm out and had to use regular).

2. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl; blend well.

3. Once mixed, pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until top is firm and a toothpick comes out clean.

I must admit, the result doesn't look like much, especially after I cut it into 16 pieces, the way it is in the photo above. And I was nervous because the batter was so darn thick. Take my word for it: It tastes better than it looks. It was so delicious I'm having to fight to keep myself from having a second piece. But since 1/16 of the loaf is about 3 Points, that's not an option right now.

I'll take one with me to the write-in tomorrow morning. Work on my NaNo MS is coming along — up past 13K. Since I'm aiming for 40,000, I'll be halfway when I hit 20K ... and I'm about to take my characters off to Alaska, where there'll be plenty of opportunities for madcap adventures (and, finally, some lovemaking. They still haven't done it, and I'm 20+ chapters into it! Nothing like building the tension, eh?).

I'm thinking about taking a few slices to work to share, and freezing a few more. I also promised the Boyfriend I'd bring him one next time I see him (though if that's not til Monday, he may be SOL.) The fewer I have in the house, ready to eat, the better. :D

Forgot to take a picture of breakfast

I made pumpkin pancakes from Green Lite Bites this morning, and they were delicious. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap their photo before I snarfed them down.

They looked a lot like the ones Roni photographed, though. They were slightly cakey and just a bit sweet. Yum! And three pretty large pancakes had just 4 WW Points. (I added some sugar-free syrup for another 1 Point.)

Even better, they were a great way to use up the leftover pumpkin in my fridge before it went bad.

After breakfast, I hit the sidewalk for a 22-minute walk.

More later. I'll remember to take pictures for the rest of my meals. Promise!

Inspired

I love Roni's Chicken Surprise. I've made it at least a half-dozen times and always eat all the leftovers before they go bad.

For dinner tonight, I let that recipe inspire me to try something new, but similar. I made a skillet meal with lean ground beef, beef-flavored rice mix, corn, green beans and salsa. It turned out pretty well — if a little spicy. (Not sure why I found it spicy. The salsa I bought said it was "medium" and I'm usually OK with medium salsas.)

I wish I'd remembered to take a picture of it, but I'll try to remember to snap one next time I reheat the leftovers.

Here's the recipe for what I'm calling Mexican-style beef and rice:

8 oz. 93% lean ground beef

1 box reduced-sodium beef-flavored Rice-a-Roni

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup salsa

1 cup corn with red and green bell pepper pieces

1 can green beans

Brown beef in a good-sized skillet. Add rice and cook according to package directions, subbing 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup salsa for the 2 1/2 cups water called for on the box. When you have about 5 minutes of cooking time left, add the corn and beans.

Makes 4 servings, each with 6 WW Points. (I know Roni's Chicken Surprise is 3 servings with 7 Points each, but when I tried to do 3 servings, it came out to 8 Points ... and that was too pricey for one meal.)

So worth it

Pay no attention to the sink full of dirty dishes. Hungry Girl's Cheesy Butternut Bake is SO worth the cleanup.

Yes, I said it — and I HATE cleaning up. Usually, anything that takes more than one or two pieces of hardware doesn't get made.

But being a butternut squash lover, I had to try this recipe when I saw it in my inbox. It was delicious — and for only two WW Points.

It was actually a Hungry Girl kind of day. I started the morning with HG's Outrageous Chocolate Chip Pancakes — yum! (That's them, below.) It was the second time I'd made this recipe, and I'll definitely be making it again.

It might not look like much

Believe me, I know this looks like poo on toast ... but it's really rather tasty.

What is it, you ask? I've been calling it pumpkin pie, but it's more like pumpkin pie filling on a reduced-fat graham cracker. And it's really simple to make — you might say it's as easy as pie! :D

I wish I could recall where I found the recipe, but it's been so long that I don't remember. It just popped up on my computer screen when I opened "Stickies" and I thought, "I wanted to try this." Since I had pumpkin leftover from the carrot-pumpkin cupcakes I made last weekend, I figured there was no time like the present.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup FF vanilla yogurt
1 packet Splenda
cinnamon and ginger to taste

Mix everything together and chill until very cold. Enjoy!

I decided to enjoy mine with some reduced-fat graham crackers. The first batch I made, I crumbled graham crackers into the bowl and ate it with a spoon. This time, I spread some on the cracker squares.

Either way, it's a pretty good snack — and low in WW Points, too. The filling isn't even 2 Points (pumpkin is 1, the yogurt should be less than 1); and two whole graham crackers (RF) have just 2 Points.